Dumbo

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The best way to describe Dumbo is… cute. Not amazing. Not outstanding. But cute.

Its adorable main character is definitely its greatest asset. His design is fantastic - he makes for a great protagonist, even if he doesn’t actually speak. This also helps with the plot as a whole, as it really makes you root for and sympathise with him. It really makes you care, which is important, because this film can get seriously depressing.

Most of the plot is just bad stuff happening to Dumbo, until he learns to fly in the last 10 minutes and becomes a superstar. This could get really tiring after a while, but it actually works because like I said, Dumbo’s adorable design means you really care. Timothy Mouse is also a pretty likable character, but his similarity to Jiminy Cricket makes him a little forgettable. Ok, it makes him very forgettable.

The quality of the animation is also not the best. It is certainly not up to the standards of Snow White, Pinocchio or Fantasia. But it is cute, colourful and fits the film’s Circus theme well. Many of Disney’s animators were striking at the time and it was made on a rather cheap budget due to the financial losses of Pinocchio and Fantasia, which were both very expensive to make, so there is a good reason for the drop in quality. But it is still rather noticeable.

As for the songs, most of them are pretty forgettable, with the exception of Pink Elephants on Parade. Even then, that scene really works due to the brilliantly inventive animation, rather than the actual song itself. Baby Mine is sweet, but a bit bland. And unfortunately the most memorable song in the film is sung by one of Disney’s most infamously racist sets of characters (the Crows). So yeah. That's more than a little bit uncomfortable to watch, let alone listen to. 

Overall, Dumbo is sweet, but not outstanding. Its good entertainment- just don’t expect to be wowed by it.

Rating

Good Guys: Dumbo is adorable and Timothy is watchable, so the good guys get a 6/10

Bad Guys: There aren’t any particularly strong villains in the film-  the other Elephants are really mean to one of the cutest characters in the canon, but they lack the entertainment value that the best Disney villains have, so the Bad Guys get a 5/10

Animation: Pretty patchy overall, but it works well for this particular story and the Pink Elephants scene alone brings the animation up to a 7/10

Music: Most of the songs are pretty forgettable, so the music gets a 4/10

Plot: It’s a classic ‘Zero to Hero’ story, with a good emotional core, so the plot gets a 7/10

Overall Rating: 29/50

Next up: Bambi